NJMSP Thunderbolt July 28-30/2023

Saturday:

Saturday qualifying started bright and early with the coolest temperatures we were going to see all

weekend. John Thompson took pole position with a 1:25.8 and the front row was rounded out by Brent

Gernert at a 1:26.2. Row 2 had Trey Dusek out qualify Rob Sherwood by only 14 hundredths of a second.

The rest of the grid was filled out by Joe Moran, Simon Green, Lee Brahin, Rob Dusek, Tom LaCosta,

Bryan Gernert, and Jack Freehoff.

Race 1 saw pole sitter John Thompson have an engine issue precluding him from accelerating as hard as

those around him. John dropped down to 6th place before he was able to make his way through the

field. Brent Gernert took the lead into turn one and had a three second gap over Trey who was second

after the start. A few laps later John made his way to third place where he spent 5 laps looking for a way

around Trey. He eventually used an over under move through turn 6 and took second place. Shortly

after, Trey pulled off the track due to a loose left rear wheel and John went on to use lap traffic to get by

Brent and take the eventual win with Brent in P2 and Rob Sherwood in P3.

Sunday:

Sunday's race saw a starting grid of Thompson, Gernert, Sherwood, Green, Gernert, Dusek II, LaCosta,

Freehoff, Dusek III, Brahin, and Moran. At the green flag John Thompson retained the lead into T1 and

Gernert followed right in behind. Trey Dusek pushed through the field quickly in an effort to catch Rob

Sherwood, hoping for a good race, but the hot track temperatures and clear running Sherwood had a

good start. Bryan Gernert would have a gearbox problem making the track even more slick than it

already was. He eventually pulled off safely, allowing track to stay green. The race ended with the same

podium order as Saturday's race marking the end to a great race weekend.